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Early in the '60s shoppers flocked to West Broad Street, between Laurel and Wyoming streets, to engage in commerce, a timeless and simple American pleasure.

It was a compact block, varied and awning-covered, and promised prospective customers the latest accessories and apparel. Visual displays governed financial destiny, so merchants lured this local flock with bold, eye-popping signs. They dressed their windows to sell; dolled up mannequins seemed to whisper assurances to women and men, vowing they would depart - bags in tow - feeling chic and handsome.

Nestled between this cityscape of color and panache were two guarded and ancient temples. The First National and Peoples Savings banks - both built in 1909 - were financial fortresses, their presence a benediction of the bustling hub's sales and transactions. Ionic columns and raking cornices suggested the banks came from Roman times, the structures somehow transplanted into a Pennsylvania wilderness long ago. This was deceptive, for they were middle-aged - fairly young - and built to win the trust of their depositors.

But permanence lost its appeal by the '60s. It was a decade almost fanatical in its modernism, which left a devastating impact on historic main streets. Merchants, planners, and political leaders labeled preservation unexciting, and believed a city's future rested on destroying remnants of its past. They benefitted from a postwar inertia, and the locals' complacency sanctioned the wrecking ball.

In downtown Hazleton, bankers suddenly disdained buildings like Peoples Savings. It was considered less a monument than a mausoleum, a structure unfitting for such an accelerated time.

In 1965, everyone celebrated the newly merged Peoples First National Bank, which opened in a sterile, cutting-edge, one-story facility. Its venerable neighbor was soon demolished. Peoples Savings' demolition initiated a miserable trend. Nobody thought the future would combust with such bitter sorrow. The future was supposed to be here. Many buildings disappeared, others faded behind drab siding, and the block between Laurel and Wyoming slowly lost its character.

More than 50 years later, Peoples Savings' fraternal twin stands grand and forlorn on a block once bursting with zest. Now known as the Security Savings building, the structure appears like an unearthed temple at an archaeological site. Its former neighbors - the Leader Store and Campbell Theatre - are now gone, replaced with desolate pockets of dirt, crushed brick and broken glass. But Security Savings stands intact, a holdout of a golden age, ready to tell its story.

A banking empire

Hazleton's dynamic banking history predates Security Savings' construction. The initial village's financial rise was dictated by entrepreneurial transplants. In the mid-1800s, anthracite coal was transforming American manufacturing. Coal deposits on Spring Mountain attracted risk-taking drifters, and their ingenuity and foresight produced quick profits. They started families, intermarried, and established a regional empire.

Among the powerful clans were the Pardees, Markles, Coxes and Van Wickles. They were essentially an oligarchy, controlling the railroads, mills, ironworks, lumber companies and stores of the Lehigh Coal Field. The syndicate needed a bank to guard their financial success, but the nearest institution was a full day's trip away in Mauch Chunk.

This changed in 1867, when Ario Pardee, George Bushar Markle and William Alexander M. Grier formed Hazleton's first bank, Pardee, Markle & Grier. The bank opened on the second floor of the "old company store," at the southwest corner of Broad and Wyoming. Their total capital was $60,000, a significant sum, and the shareholders believed their wealth would inevitably increase.

The bank wasn't spared from the nation's sporadic financial tremors. Competition never helped business either, but Pardee, Markle & Grier continued to thrive.

Hazleton Savings Bank (precursor to the merged Markle Bank) was their first rival, which opened in 1871. The new bank located its nondescript institution at the southeast corner of Broad and Laurel.

Four years later, Hazleton's reigning partners responded by completing its elaborate new headquarters. Known as the "Old Iron Front Building," the Romanesque Revival structure was an architectural statement. Built next to the company store, the stylish edifice reminded passersby and competing bankers of the partners' power. Pardee, Markle & Grier were Hazleton's first pioneers, the region's commanding trustees.

Hazleton's aristocracy celebrated their fortune by building opulent mansions on North Laurel and North Church streets. The hilly section allowed these pioneers to monitor their operations, which had become a fiefdom of patch towns. While ignoring the educational needs of their labor force, the ruling families endowed Lafayette College in Easton. They welcomed immigrants because they were cheap and worked hard, but this was an autocratic preference. Paternalism stayed in house, and their endowment produced generations of Pardees and Markles prepared to inherit the empire.

While the Reading Railroad's Franklin Gowen conquered the surrounding regions, he never advanced to the Lehigh Coal Field. The Hazleton monopoly stayed under the founding family's realm. In 1882, oversight of the borough's inaugural bank was transferred to George Markle's three sons. Markle had died, and Pardee and Grier both retired. The bank was renamed Markle Brothers & Co., and the partners' next decade was marked by great prosperity, eager competitors and rapid population growth.

Classic revival period

Unfettered capitalism germinated an upper class. Industry had spread beyond the confines of anthracite, creating a burgeoning elite that required banks to house their wealth. They organized shareholders and challenged the power structure. Banks were beginning to evolve from one-room structures, transforming Hazleton's pioneer fabric into an urban terrain.

During the 1880s and 1890s, Hazleton experienced its most significant population and demographic changes. Sustained growth meant more banks. First National opened in 1888, followed by Hazleton National Bank's formation in 1890.

First National, which was Hazleton's first chartered bank, marketed itself as the "Bank of Friendly Service." The institution would later secure the mortgage bonds required to build the Duplan Silk Mill.

Hazleton National Bank, meanwhile, was a new establishment for an old guard. Among its overseers were Augustus S. Van Wickle, the well-known mining operator, and Elliott P. Kisner, who would later found the Kis-Lyn Industrial School for Boys in Drums.

Hazleton National Bank was located at Broad and Laurel, next to P. Deisroth & Sons' original store. When the bank opened, its deposits were $223,000, but they ballooned to $1,070,204 by 1894. Markle's shareholders realized their latest rival wasn't ideal for business. In 1897, Markle terminated its original partnership and upgraded in size by purchasing its first competitor, Hazleton Savings Bank. The merged institution was renamed the Markle Bank & Trust Co.

First National's early days were more calamitous than Hazleton's other banks. In December 1891, a devastating fire destroyed the "Brill block" on East Broad Street, claiming First National, several apartments, and Platt & Co.'s general store. The fire occurred just days after Hazleton was chartered a third-class city under Mayor N.L. Gavitt.

The embers were telling, for they extinguished remnants of the young city's rustic past. Both Hazleton and the country were becoming more urban and less agrarian. Urbanization engendered ambition and fierce optimism, but America's economy didn't match the mood.

A banking panic in 1873 triggered a depression that lasted until 1895. Hundreds of banks closed and the relationship between banker and depositor was shattered. Bankers searched for ways to restore public confidence and better communicate their fiscal health. Architecture proved the ideal language, but bankers needed an appropriate design to restore trust and strength.

They found their inspiration in Chicago's "White City." In 1893, the American Banking Association met at the World's Columbian Exposition. The exposition ignited an architectural renaissance through its showcase of nearly 200 neo-classical buildings. The eclectic revival was conceived at the Ecole des Beaux in Paris, which produced a generation of influential American architects. The graduates in attendance championed the buildings' purist form, and they employed its principles through the "City Beautiful" movement.

Bankers shared their awe in the structure's elegant simplicity. By building classical monuments, banks could express a sense of continuity to its depositors. The granite, limestone and Corinthian columns signaled an institution's commitment to a town's future, and reassured the public that their monetary security withstood time. It was an alluring and clever idea, and the style became infectious.

By the early 20th century, Hazleton's banks embraced the revival. In 1905, Peoples Savings and Trust Co. opened in Hazle Hall, but its shareholders wanted to improve their perception. They purchased property next door, completing a temple of Greek ornamentation in 1909. That same year, First National matched Peoples Savings' exterior refinement by building its own temple, bringing a classical scheme to Hazleton's busiest block.

First National was built by Milligan & Weber, a firm known for constructing prominent apartment houses and developing West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Standing just over two stories, the fireproof bank featured four composite columns and an arched window. Its columned stone entry also supported a clock. The interior's mantel and wainscoting were made of "American pavonazzo" marble from Vermont quarries. This marble was also used to construct New York's Chamber of Commerce Building.

But just when First National opened its new headquarters, Hazleton's oldest bank went skyward.

Modern cityscape

America's economic distress turned into intense confidence as the First World War dawned. Cities enjoyed sustained population growth, which increased land values. A bull market convinced bankers to enlarge their institutions. Modern classicism remained the preferred design for banks, but shareholders looked upward, believing skyscrapers were the most fitting testament to their power and glory. Between the 1890s and late 1920s, more than 12,000 banks were built across the nation. Many of these banks defined city skylines with newly opened skyscrapers, their size and majesty an exaltation of American capitalism.

Hazleton's first skyscraper opened in 1910. The Markle Bank replaced the Iron-Front Building with a structure that reflected its banking and commercial influence. When completed, the Markle Building's white brick, lumber-free tower reached 11 stories. Philadelphia architect John Irwin Bright's finished product retained the favored Neo-Classical influences, a sign of security and enduring strength for its depositors. The building was reminiscent of any high-rise found in New York or Chicago.

The Markle became Hazleton's central building for business activity. Accountants, attorneys and physicians rented office space on its upper floors. The top floor featured the Hazleton Club, a private restaurant for bank employees. But little was recorded of Bright's original interior. The building soon underwent extensive renovations, with a six-story addition added in 1923 and a complete revamping of its banking room in 1928.

The Markle commissioned the New York firm of Alfred C. Bossom to make the banking room larger and more extravagant than its original interior. The firm's namesake was known for his inventive, romantic style. Bossom was the leading architect of the classical revival period, revered especially for his design of banks across the East Coast. Bossom and his contemporaries were specially trained in banking architecture, and they treated their work as an art and science. He would later quit architecture, return to his native England and become a member of Parliament. A member of his firm, E.J. Hartwig, carried out Bossom's vision to make the Markle a symbol of public service and good judgment.

The improved interior featured a directors' room on the mezzanine level, finished in the English Georgian style with a full fireplace and skylight. Entering the banking room, one felt placed in the Italian Renaissance. Hartwig was inspired by Florentine examples, and included Botticino marble columns from the province of Lombardi.

A "modern" counter screen was used, replacing the more primitive tellers' cages. Bossom had revolutionized banking in 1925, when he eliminated the traditional counter grille at Washington, D.C.'s Federal-American Bank. He felt this "open vision" arrangement improved customer service, and the Markle's counter became the latest example. Crowning this interior masterpiece was a coffered ceiling, which was the first floor's unifying feature.

The interior was finished four years after downtown's latest domineering structure. When Pardee Square's estate and wooded property were cleared in 1923, Hazleton National Bank began construction on its new, eight-story headquarters. It was designed by Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick, Parisian-trained architects known for building churches and country homes throughout Philadelphia.

Their finished edifice incorporated the classic and Medieval. Its upper floors were faced with red brick, while recessed columns and flanking pilasters greeted the public at the entrance. The lobby felt like a Medieval chamber, with its stoic metal trim, oak doors and circular iron chandeliers.

Completed during the same period, the American Bank Building (renamed Traders in 1934) opened adjacent to the Markle at Broad and Wyoming. The eight-story Gothic Revival tower was built by Mowbray & Uffinger, a popular duo known for designing financial institutions, including Brooklyn's Dime Savings Bank. The American Bank was slapped with granite and limestone, and sealed with terra cotta. Its engraved gargoyles appeared like bank guards, scowling down at the crowded intersection.

With American Bank's opening, Hazleton's modern landscape was complete. The Mountain City slipped into the Great Depression with a downtown infrastructure built by banks. While the economic tumult claimed countless financial institutions nationwide, Hazleton actually gained two banks during this period. Its downtown banking buildings remained fully occupied.

On a national scale, banks were humbled and adopted a more minimalist composition. Banks couldn't sell the classical revival look because they were no longer symbols. A bank's building needed to be easy to sell to another business if it failed. In Philadelphia, the Savings Fund Society (PSFS) building epitomized this shift with its modernist and Art Deco details. The PSFS building signaled what was to come, as banks became blocks of steel and glass, devoid of originality and flavor.

Hazleton's banks continued to expand following the Second World War, but mergers, acquisitions and sprouting branches made downtown's banks less relevant.

The Markle merged with regional banks in 1958, forming the Northeastern Pennsylvania National Bank & Trust Co. Eight years later, First National merged with Peoples Savings, beginning the short-sighted idea of destroying old and beautiful buildings for lifeless and experimental designs.

The changes were radical and quick. America's economy boomed in the postwar period, and continued to grow in the coming decades. Banking had become less ceremonial and more convenient, and branches proliferated thanks to deregulation and suburbanization. The suburbs shifted people and businesses from countless downtowns, and these branches, essentially small cubes, accommodated the automobile culture.

By the 1980s, ATM machines placed downtown banks on life support. Like almost every city, Hazleton lost its urban core to this newfound, consumer-driven population. The downtown's largest buildings, once dominant banks, entered the 21st century largely empty, decayed and forgotten.

The revival

Banks never had indefinite lifelines. Their fits of success and failure - a boom and bust cycle - are part of America's capitalist identity. But their impact goes beyond the vault, often affecting an area's aesthetic integrity.

When a branch bank abandons its suburban shell, a realtor quickly finds a business to replace it. This proves more difficult for old downtown banks, their anatomical pomp commonly unfitting for chain stores. Century-old buildings are left to decay like loitering carcasses. It's a tragedy, for a downtown's destiny could be improved through the adaptive reuse of these historical structures.

But in recent years, an unfortunate trend has transitioned into an opportunity. Small cities and neglected neighborhoods have enjoyed a surge in young adults. With a resurgent population and employer base, developers and businesses are finding creative ways to renovate old banks while preserving their beauty and historical value. Old banking rooms in cities and small towns are becoming restaurants, boutiques and art galleries. This new generation, a mobilized creative class, has restored long deteriorating structures without defacing their original features.

Of course, preservation occasionally backfires. This was the case in 1999, when Lord & Taylor gutted the magnificent old Mellon Bank building in Pittsburgh. But many Pennsylvania municipalities have found ways to restore without defacing, to return people and vitality to their main streets.

In Philadelphia, the University of the Arts converted a South Street historical bank building into a vintage theater. In Harrisburg, the Susquehanna Art Museum is moving into an old bank in the city's gentrifying Midtown district. Philadelphia, Harrisburg and even Hazleton now understand the economic and cultural benefits of preserving historic properties.

Hazleton once had an addiction to eradicating its history. But its addiction has waned over the past decade, beginning with the Markle's renovations in the mid-2000s. This encouraging development occurred during Hazleton's most challenging period, with the realities of rising criminal activity dictating the public's perception of downtown. Their perception hasn't fully subsided, even as the sights and sounds of downtown construction signal a better tomorrow.

Hazleton's downtown is currently undergoing its most dramatic renewal since voters approved the commercial development of Pardee Square more than 90 years ago. For the first time in decades, a major employer is locating its headquarters on Broad Street. By investing in the restoration of the Traders Bank and Hazleton National Bank buildings, DBi Services has embraced a downtown in need of a future. DBi is not only reusing overlooked bank buildings, but bringing employees to a once busy corridor.

The DeAngelo family is also resurrecting a culinary institution. When The Pines opens in the Hayden Tower at the Markle, people will be able to dine under its coffered ceiling. The restaurant will utilize some of the former Knotty Pines' original décor, a textbook example of how to reuse a storied banking interior.

A new organization shares these enlightened ideas. The Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress is building upon downtown's ongoing revitalization by working to make the center city a vibrant and safe place. The alliance supports strengthening cultural institutions and finding new uses for historic buildings.

The alliance, along with city officials, are currently in discussions with the Hazleton Art League to restore another Broad Street bank. The alliance is working to facilitate the planning and development of the Security Savings (formerly First National Bank) building, which would create a cultural hub for downtown.

"Downtown" needs to return to Hazleton's vernacular. After all, Hazleton's past is too special to forget. It deserves more than an epitaph of "what was" or "could have been." It was a small city built by big-city architects. The downtown shares much in common with Philadelphia, its edifices constructed by its most celebrated builders and a grid sharing the city's street names. A small, rural patch of country road became an elegant, grandiose stretch of fine buildings, carried out by the visions of local industrial and banking titans.

The restoration of Hazleton's historic banks is playing a key role in the downtown's rebirth. Security Savings' own story was spoiled by apathy and blight, but local leaders have discovered a way to save what was built to be a timeless structure. It would finally receive its happy ending. And you can take that to the bank.

Charles F. McElwee III works in the government relations sector and assists with the Greater Hazleton Historical Society Facebook page. He is pursuing his master's degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at cfmcelwee@gmail.com.

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